Alvara Faine
"Is that any way to talk to an old friend?" --'Alvara Faine' to Edan Volan Alvara Faine 'is the leader of Team Waffle and a protagonist of the story. She becomes an antagonist at the end of the Sword of Flame and throughout the Wand of Tempests. She is a light elementalist with a talent in archery and hand-to-hand combat. Upon joining the Darkborn, she also gains access to the powers of darkness. Her father, Drystan Faine, is the leader of the Darkborn. She first joins Teeter and Aquarius in Thorn as she travels north to the City of Ice in search of her father, who went missing a year after the Incident. At first she was planning to leave after arriving, but grew attached to the team and decided to join them permanently. Alvara is the love interest of Zale and Edan. __TOC__ Appearance Alvara's most prominent and most noticeable feature is her long, copper, curly hair tied back with a red ribbon. She has seafoam green eyes, fair, flawless skin, a heart-shaped face, and an athletic but curvaceous physique. Her style of dress tends to be clean and free-flowing; she is usually seen in a white tunic, jeans, and tall, laced leather boots. Sometimes she wears fingerless gloves to aid her grip. During the winter, Alvara wears a brown coat, a thick scarf, and fuzzy gloves. Around her neck she keeps her mother's pendant. Despite claiming she doesn't like dresses, she does take the opportunity to pamper herself. Her formal wear tends to be in shades of blue and seafoam green. Alvara's style drastically changes when she joins the DO, turning darker and fitting. She wears a tight outfit of black, a dark cloak, and a large black muffler. Her boots are of the same style as before, except also in black. Personality Normal Personality Alvara is an independent and solitary girl, and also one of logic and reasoning. She is seen as bossy and controlling, and believes that she can do everything herself. She can be stubborn and fiercely determined, but also extremely protective over those she cares about. Sometimes she clashes with Aquarius over decisions, but really she just wants the best for everyone. However, her isolation for most of her life has proven to be a problem. She has trouble accepting things, but her stubborn nature makes her hide it. She thinks she can solve everything without any help, which often backfires against her. Alvara is secretly scared of things that are unfamiliar to her, as she pushes herself to play the indomitable leader role in the team. This trait continues to manifest itself as a strong sense of insecurity. Alvara wants control and not having it terrifies her. Dark Alvara After joining the DO, her personality takes an unexpected turn. Alvara becomes arrogant and callous, showing little compassion for her teammates. She does not hesitate to strike out against them and mocks them for their weakness. She even threatens to kill them if they don't comply with her demands. However, this coldness isn't her entire personality. Alvara's one exception is with Bryke, who became her friend when she was gone. With him she shows a bit of her former self, though perhaps a more sarcastic one. History Alvara is the daughter of the water-ice elementalist, Drystan Faine and the earth elementalist, Iona Faine. She was born on the eastern coast of the Regia, on the cliff overlooking the magnificent blue waves. Her name can mean "sea mother", "elf warrior", "noble guardian", or "universal protector", signifying her parents' wishes for her to be a strong, proud, and beautiful girl. The three lived in a quaint cottage in the middle of the mysterious Forest of Fin. It was here where her father taught her to be a fighter, training her intensively in speed, agility, strength, and endurance. She gained a strong ability in archery and martial arts. Sometime during her childhood, around the age of seven or eight, she met a boy named Zale in the Forest. Alvara herself had made the foolish mistake of wandering off when she got angry at her father, ending up lost in the very place she called home. She almost fell into a stream before Zale saved her.The two became friends and continued to visit each other at the stream until Zale didn't show up one day due his father's murder. Drystan found Alvara and restricted her from coming to the stream ever again. A few months before the Incident, her mother left on a trip to Siluvia. Days later, her father told her that her mother was dead, that she had died in a skirmish. Alvara, griefstricken, endured what she could, closing her heart in iron-clad armor. Then her father disappeared as well, just months after the Incident, leaving only a note, "Find the Orb," and his bow. Alvara, unable to be contained in the forest any longer, gathered her belongings and said goodbye to her childhood home. She then traveled up north in hopes of finding the legendary City of Ice, where she believed she could find the Orb of Tides in order to reunite once more with her father and get the answers she deserved. Synopsis Introduction Arc Alvara is the first character introduced in Book One, treading along a snow-laden path to the small village of Thorn. Even though it's a year after the Incident, the continent of Mageia hasn't recovered and still lies in a state of anarchy. However, in Thorn, struggles are set aside as the entire village celebrates the New Year's, despite not having the traditional New Year's Fest like years before. She takes lodging at the only hotel in the town, Welbury Inn, expecting to only stay for a night. Just as she is settling down for the night, Teeter knocks on her door accidentally, making a mistake of her room number. Alvara springs up in suspicion and almost shoots Teeter in the face with an arrow. The smaller girl quickly apologizes, throws her a suacriberry, and disappears into the room next door. Alvara, surprised and confused, goes over to apologize to Teeter for thinking she was an enemy. The two make up and decide to have breakfast together the next morning. Around 5 a.m. in the morning, a black-cloaked man sneaks into Alvara's room and takes her mother's golden pendant, only to be spotted by Teeter on his way out. Dawn rises and after noticing that her pendant is gone, Alvara goes downstairs to get something to eat in order to calm herself. A brief, stiff conversation with Teeter ensues before she notices the black-cloaked man watching her. She quickly reasons that he was the one who took her pendant and runs out to intercept him. An intense fight follows between the two, with the man revealing mysterious new powers Alvara had never seen before. This allows the man to gain the upper hand quickly. A strange golden key charm also appears on her pendant. The man is about to take Alvara away when Aquarius, annoyed at the situation, comes out from the inn and interrupts their fight. She too, is easily overpowered, and the man is able to extract her specter. Alvara saves Aquarius, from which the man then decides he is no longer interested in fighting them. He introduces himself as Bryke, throws them a small satchel, and disappears into the shadows. Alvara and Aquarius take Teeter up to one of the inn's rooms. When she wakes, Aquarius and Alvara have a rocky introduction before the three examine the satchel given to them. Inside are several tiny glass shards. As one comes in physical contact with Aquarius, however, it turns into a small glass orb charm on Alvara's pendant, revealing itself to be part of the spirit of the Orb of Tides, Vena. The spirit explains that its vessel has been broken into several pieces and scattered across Mageia. Due to this, Vena cannot fully remember the details of what happened in the Incident. By gathering the pieces and making the Orb whole once more, she will be able to give them potential answers they seek as well as allow them to use the full power of the Orb. Aquarius, Alvara, and Teeter then come to an uneasy agreement to work together to find the pieces due to their individual goals related to the Orb. The group then disperses to their own rooms to rest for the day. City of Ice Arc The trio leaves early in the morning. The next day, Alvara wakes up to what appears to be an earthquake. She runs out of their cave shelter to find that they have intruded upon the territory of a juvenile viperae. The three attempt to tackle the gigantic snake, but in the conflict, Alvara falls off the cliff and lands on a ledge below. She then painfully climbs back up. At the top, a new person and Teeter are yelling at each other. Alvara pulls them away from their argument and goes to help Aquarius with the viperae. Using a bit of quick thinking and the momentum of the snake, Alvara manages to send the viperae off the cliff. Praising her, the stranger introduces himself as Edan, Teeter's older brother. Alvara notices that her pendant has fallen out of her pocket and onto a small outcropping on the cliffside. She climbs down to get it, but at the last second, the rope tied around her snaps. Edan instinctively jumps after her. The two are saved by a gigantic gust of wind that boosts them back up. Alvara awakens to the sudden rumbling of the mountain. A gigantic snake creature called a viperae is crawling down the side of the peak, carrying a black-cloaked man. The team struggles to hold the creature off while a second one joins it. Through another burst of effort, the team pulls through and defeats both viperae and the men, but not before Alvara gets into another awkward moment and Teeter gets mad again. The team falls asleep in their cave to the smell of roasted viperae meat, their energy wasted from the day's battle. A few weeks later and their food begins to run out, much to Jaden's dismay. Though Teeter keeps several edible berries in her potato sack, she doesn't give them to the group. To entertain themselves and keep their hunger at bay, the team starts joking about hair, specifically Edan's hair. Finally, the group reaches a portal to the City of Ice, courtesy of Aquarius, and decides to enter one by one to prevent suspicion. The entrance goes swiftly, but the portal shoots the members of the team off at different exits, splitting them up: Alvara and Edan, Aquarius and Teeter, and Jaden by himself. Alvara and Edan decide to find a hotel to stay for the rest of the day and find the others later, hoping for some luxury rest and food, though they don't know what Aquarius and Teeter and truly up to. The next day follows with the Ice Festival of free food, ice sculptures, and fun events. Alvara quickly grabs some delicious breakfast for the two of them before heading out into the streets. At a merchant tarp, the two see a sculpture of the rare Atyniad Flower. Alvara is quickly shocked as the Atyniad Flower only grows in her forest home, the Forest of Fin and symbolizes everlasting love between two people. She glances at Edan nervously, but blushes as she turns away. They are relaxing in a cafe, eating ice cream sundaes when they find Jaden, who is excited for the plentiful amount of food and begins to gorge. The trio are joined by Aquarius, who seems to have lost Teeter. Jaden attempts to find Teeter by calling birds in the city and succeeds, only to find her in a stormy state, causing havoc in City Square. Jaden and Aquarius rush off to subdue her while Alvara collapses from a fever induced by traveling too long and hard. While the battle between Tessa and Aquarius insues, Alvara can only lay back and watch as Edan tries to help ease her sickness. He leaves her on a bench to go search for Teeter in the infirmary, as she might have a few berries to cure Alvara. Edan returns with some green berries , Teeter, and the rest of the group as the City of Ice still rampagaes in chaos from Teeter's storm. The group takes refuge in a fancy five-star hotel, paid for by Aquarius, and manage to escape the city without harm. Alvara is disappointed that she hadn't found any clues to her father in the city, but doesn't talk about it. Twin Cities Arc The group slowly pulls a sleigh out of the city, with a sick Alvara and an exhausted Teeter in the back. They decide to head to Nevarsville , where Edan has connections. Along the way Teeter gets annoyed again and pulls everyone to go "hunt for berries" except Edan, who's taking care of Alvara. Unfortunately, when Edan isn't noticing, Alvara falls into the river nearby. She cannot swim and almost drowns before Edan pulls her out of the water. Aquarius is with Teeter, so there's no one to pull the water out of Alvara's lungs and Edan has to resort to the only method left in his arsenal. Just as he's performing MTMR on Alvara, the group returns in shock and in Teeter's case, fury. To make things even worse, another boy appears out of the shadows and introduces himself as Seth , Teeter and Edan's brother. The other two Volans are not please to see him at all. Seth's jokes and teasing makes Teeter erupt in another blow-up, everyone unhappy at Seth's entrance, including Dan , Aquarius' brother who was hiding in her bag. The group spends another terrible night in a cave. However, in the middle of the night, Seth sneaks off and Aquarius and Dan decide to leave on a cloud in order to actually find what they came for, the Orb of Tides. Alvara sees the two leave from a tree and falls out due to her injury from the mountains. Another charm appears on her necklace, a blue-orb charm, and its appearance angers Teeter as it reminds her of the Great Weapons and how they destroyed her life. Edan's sister storms off as well and Alvara sends Jaden after her to get her back. With only the two of them left, Edan tells Alvara that they'll head to Nevarsville, the closest city. He also believes that Aquarius and Dan might be there, since Nevarsville has a decently large library. He takes her into a Sentinel base at Mr. Smith's house, where they listen in on the news of Heather 's disapperance. Mr. Smith wills his house to Edan and the Sentinels disperse. The next morning, Alvara finds an old book, Tome of the Elements, in a broken floorboard of the basement. Inside is information about magic that she had never seen before, as well as a taped piece of glass. The blue orb begins to glow and the shard flies into the charm. Edan wakes up, Alvara gathers the book and some nonperishables, and the two leave the house. Just as they're walking up the narrow staircase, they hear a commotion from upstairs. A few gang members prowling Nevarsville have discovered the floorboard leading to the basement and are deciding what to make of it. With a surprise attack, Alvara and Edan manage to ward off the men and escape into the nearby forest. Unable to locate Aquarius in Nevarsville, Alvara suggests the opposing city, Awasburg. Edan is hesitant about going there, stating that he's "not welcome", but Alvara insists that he can be careful and that she has a good feeling about the city. The two leave Nevarsville along the path leading to Awasburg, also finding a WANTED poster of Aquarius Ashdown. Three white-cloaked people pass by. In Awasburg, Alvara and Edan manage to find the rest of the group, except Teeter. The three people from before, two men and a women, find the group and try to capture Aquarius. Alvara is able to quickly defeat them through a mixture of archery and hand-to-hand combat. Just after the fight, the blue orb charm also begins to glow, revealing the image of a young girl with flowing hair. She calls herself Vena , the spirit of the Orb of Tides, explaining that the Orb had been broken in 50 pieces scattered across Mageia. Though everyone is shocked that the weapons have consciences, they agree to help Vena repiece herself together. Vena tells them that the next piece is somewhere west, somewhere in the Gulf of Supracity , and peters out due to lack of energy of only one shard. Nesaica Forest and the Orb of Tides Arc The group heads out to the expansive Nesaica Forest in hopes of traveling west towards the Gulf. Seth once again, has disappeared. After a long afternoon of hiking, the team camps out in a forest clearing, each leaving to their own area to train. Alvara practices a bit of light control at the river, where the gushing water calms her nerves, before going to find Edan. They talk a little amongst the ashed ground and embers, Alvara falling asleep on Edan's shoulder, except she wakes up a few minutes later from a sudden nightmare. The next morning, the group heads out again for the closest city as well as a few clues to the whereabouts of Teeter. Alvara immediately senses something wrong when they tread down a forest path, and tells the rest of the group to stay put. She heads off by herself, followed by Edan in concern while the rest of the group disobeys her orders and ends up lost in the Nesaica--again, thanks to Aquarius. Alvara's suspicions are confirmed as she is struck by a type of needle with a nauseating poison inside. She shoots down the machine aiming the needles and pulls out the one in her side before it gets any worse. Edan carries her forward until they reach the foot of Mt. Hollo, beyond lying the carved city, Aulegarde. Figuring that Teeter could be nowhere near there, and that they were heading east rather than west, the two retrace their footsteps back into the Nesaica. In the night, Alvara considers her relationship with Edan and how she really feels about him. The whole day she couldn't bring herself to look at him, or her face would heat up and her heart would beat faster. Alvara is scared of the new emotions in her heart, not sure what they are, and force them down. The next morning Edan and her are greeted by Seth, who has found Tessa and Ian from the City of Ice. After much teasing, SEA + IT leave to find Aquarius, Jaden, and Dan, who have gotten lost in the forest. The quintet eventually find the trio again in the city of Quaevir, the whole trip bothered by Seth's lame jokes. However, Seth also springs a rock trap that activates another signal rock in the hands of a mysterious hooded girl. She takes her squad over to the quintet and attempts to restrain them. Aquarius, Dan, Jaden join them, also bringing a found Teeter and a Vulpis Draco named Flynn. Also along for the ride are a small boy named Tytus and Alvara's childhood friend, Zale . The entire team, now officially named Team Waffle, tries to escape the hooded girl's attacks, with only Alvara, Edan, and Teeter escaping. The couple find safety in an old hotel after being chased again by the Seekers of Quaevir, who are cleansing the city of Sentinels. WIth the soldiers creeping up on them, and no way out, Alvara thinks of a radical plan to help them escape. She impulsively decides to kiss Edan just as the soldiers enter the room. Thankfully, the plan works and the soldiers leave, but Alvara finds herself unable to stop. Again in conflict her of feelings, and why she would be doing this, the girl breaks apart from Edan. Of course, this is not before Teeter falls out of the closet in tears at what her brother was doing. To their dismay, Teeter wipes away her sobs with whole-hearted support for their "relationship", turning the once "brother complex" girl to a hopeless romantic. The trio, with Teeter's lovey-dovey babble, bump into the hooded girl again, along with Seth. Quite coincedentally, the girl is actually Heather, the Volan's old neighbor and a Sentinel spy thought to have been dead. And even better, due to a traumatic confession gone wrong, Seth has been reduced to a puddle of whimpering, tomato-faced, ghostly-pale mixture. Heather takes them to the hotel where the others are at, explain that she was trying to help save them from the Seeker, and clear up the misunderstandings. Alvara is also surprised at Zale's appearance, not really sure what to make of the boy she knew years ago. With Tessa and Ian heading back to the City of Ice with Heather's squad to patch things up, Vena appears again, telling them that the closest piece is on the island of Caritas. The Island of Love Arc Teeter, Dan, Aquarius, and Zale join their powers together to create a gigantic cloud for the entire Team Waffle to sit on. Heather has also joined them as she feels like her job is complete in Quaevir. Fortunately, that also means Seth will shut up and blubber away. Slowly, the cloud nears the crystal blue ocean, away from the frosty north of the Nesaica Forest. The Regia Ocean has always been charmed to maintain a peaceful atmosphere, rarely every storming. Team Waffle welcomes the change from the drab, rainy Quaevir to the warm sunshine of the coast. Alvara stays relatively silent on the cloud, watching the water rush by as the others dive in to enjoy the sea. Both Aquarius and Zale and overly excited because of the coming full moon. Though none of them really know where Caritas is located, the island's magnetic nature seems to draw the cloud ever closer. Team Waffle lands on the sandy beach of Caritas and is greeted by an old man with a staff . Nearby sits a sign labeled "Love or Leave". He asks the group to please demostrate their love to him in order to gain access to what seems to be a resort island. Alvara and Edan blunder their way past easily, while Dan argues over who should be with Aquarius. In the end, he pushes a reluctant Zale over, who was hoping to go with Aquarius, and shouts "THIS THING IS MY LOVE ", earning them the entrance despite Dan's snappy attitude. Aquarius fakes her best guy voice and takes Teeter in. Heather drags the ghostly Seth in easily. Jaden struggles over his food or his beloved fox, Flynn and in the end is dragged by the proud little fox into Caritas. Tytus happily takes the food. Inside, the group is greeted by white-clad attendants, eagerly serving them all mango smoothies. Aquarius immediately takes one and gulps it down. Edan also takes one, only to discover that he can't eat mangoes. The rest of the group politely decline, minds still wary of the island even though it has such a welcoming air. The mango drink suddenly causes Aquarius to go brother-crazy and she fawns over Dan, much to his dismay. Team Waffle is introduced to their new home, a beachside cabana complete with everything they need. Eventually, everyone but Dan forgets their purpose of being on the island and considers the island their home now, away from the pain and suffering back home. Alvara relaxes in the cabana while Aquarius suddenly returns with thousands of cosplay costumes for Dan, some of which being a frog suit, a purple prince costume, and a leopard suit she's eager to try on her brother. Time flies and it's already dinner. Though Edan volunteers to cook up some barbecue, the white-clad attendants have already prepared a lavish dinner for them on the balcony. Creeped out by their actions, Team Waffle refrains from eating the food. But to Zale and Dan's horror, the white-clad attendants push them into the table, accompanied by rose petals, violin music, and candles. After seeing the sadly hilarious sight, Alvara and Edan leave to a fancy restaurant to get something in their stomachs. Unable to contain himself in Caritas' love magic, Edan kisses Alvara under the moonlight, both not really sure what they were doing, both not fighting back. The two return to a cured Aquarius, exhausted Dan, and now super-ready for romance Teeter. A small argument eventually turns into a full-on pillow fight in the cabana, Alvara and Zale both opting out. The chaos slowly clears into a duel between Edan and Seth, the winner receiving a mysterious surprise from Announcer Teeter. With Aquarius betting on Seth and Dan betting on Teeter, the siblings resort to cheating to get what they want. Alvara can only blush when Teeter announces that her surprise is a fully planned date by her, and turns even redder when Edan wins by default--Seth "cheated". The next day dawns on a beautifully arranged breakfast and anticipation of Teeter's "date". Edan heads out a bit as Teeter explains each aspect of her plan. Alvara is forced to wait in the cabana as Teeter and the rest of Team Waffle head out to their respective stations. A few hours later, Zale returns with a dress for Alvara and a "manly suit" for Edan. Alvara agrees to put on the dress, which she discovers looks perfect on her. Once the rest of them depart, including Seth, a white-clad attendant comes in and tells them that there's a yacht outside for their use. Having never been on a yacht, Alvara asks Edan if he's like to go. The yacht drifts out to sea as the sun sets in the horizon, Alvara not aware of the mishap Zale and Seth were causing on the shore. Edan gifts her a beautiful wooden butterfly box to her surprise. Suddenly, the boat begins to sink, Alvara panicking as she doesn't know how to swim. They are able to reach a jut of rocks on time and they escape back to the cabana. The dinner goes horribly, even Aquarius and Dan have to puke. Zale immediately blames it on Jaden, even though he was the one who purposely made the food wrong, and Heather storms out in a fury. Eventually the atmosphere clears and Zale volunteers to make them some breakfast, even though it's still in the middle of the night. The group decides that their formal name will be the "Insane Waffle Maniacs" and agrees to have some waffles. A mini cooking competition erupts between Zale and Teeter, the latter of which cannot believe this "Green-Bowl Thonking Annoying Cheerleader" can do "domestic" chores. In the midst of their waffle making, Teeter set a waffle laden with eroma berries for Alvara. Remember a dream she had back in Nesaica Forest about eroma berries and osculation, Alvara quickly leaves the house, followed by an equally traumatized Edan. Still slightly giddy from Caritas' love magic, Alvara and Edan watch from a hill as a large fire envelops the small town. In the distance someone shouted about the "Sacred Rule of Love". A few minutes later, Alvara's blue orb charm began to glow madly, Vena finally speaking up about the shards. The power emanating from ten shards of the Orb and the fire in Caritas completely broke the spell and Team Waffle realize their mission with the Orb. A gigantic tidal wave begins to close in from the ocean, courtesy of the gigantic power boost Zale received from the Orb, and Alvara rushes back to the town. The wave drenches them both as the blue orb rattles even more. Vena explains quickly that she's trying to call her other selves as she lets loose a very unearthly bubble scream. All over the island, the shards begin to activate and each facet of Vena's personality gathers at the orb charm. It is also discovered that Vena has a boy counterpart, Veno. With the charm broken over Team Waffle, the entire island in chaos, and their job complete, the group steals a ship, The Seadog's Qualm, to head to the next destination of the shards: Perola. Perola City Arc Team Waffle is able to narrowly escape the hundreds of Caritas elementalists, somehow hidden all over the city, using the power of the shards to boost their escape. Stocked with whatever they managed to pillage off of Caritas' shops, the ship leaves Caritas for Perola. Even though they don't know where the port is, they continue to sail South, closer and closer to Amnicen. Also on the ship is a portrait with a boy resembling Jaden. One afternoon of their trip, a large storm comes in from the north. Alvara realizes the strangeness of the storm, as the Regia never thunders or rains, and warns the sleeping crew to manuever the old ship out of the way or risk sinking. Zale and Aquarius are given the blue orb charm in preparation to boost the ship's speed. However, as the storm nears the boat, three men are seen riding the currents above. Dressed in the characteristic black-cloaks, the three assault the ship under the torrents of rain. While Heather rushes to create a protective barrier against their attacks, everyone else rushes to positions to try and stop the three. Alvara, also running around shouting orders, notices that her key charm began to shine and burn. The pain of the white-hot key also causes several strange voices to run through her head as if she was linked to another person. She suddenly gets caught up in a fight between the creeping darkness in her mind, using a lot of effort to drive it away with her light. The key stops glowing and she resumes the fight, not sure what that was all about. The men jump onto the ship and reveal they're after the shards of the Orb. Heather summons a second line of defense, a large sea serpent to aid them while Jaden drags out rocks from the ocean floor to fight. Although Team Waffle puts up an amazing right, the three men, Halwyn, Rentin, and Talbot, easily overwhelm then, trapping each of the members who don't have the shards in ice. Unable to use their elemental powers with their hands restrained, the others can only watch helplessly as the three men advance onto Alvara. Zale had given her the pendant a few minutes ago during the fight. The three men already have shards in their possession, and they madly react when getting closer to Alvara, who's trapped on the side of the ship's cabin. Just as Talbot is about to reach for the shards, he notices the golden key charm nestled next to it. He says that they can't harm Alvara and retreats with Halwyn and Rentin, leaving Team Waffle plastered in ice. Zale is able to melt through the ice shackles with only his mind and frees the rest of the team. With heavy hearts at their shameful loss, Team Waffle pulls into the dock of Perola. They decide to disguise themselves as a merchant ship, selling whatever wares they managed to get from Caritas. With Jaden and Tytus hiding in the potato sacks, the rest of the team stumble out in lacy dresses, bonnets, striped vests, and ugly trousers. Although the coast guard look at them suspiciously, they pass under customs and enter the dreary port. Once filled with banners and streamers, color and life, Perola is now a grim port city as a result of the Incident. As Team Waffle strolls through the crowds of lifeless people, they decide to camp on solid ground for a night on the city's outskirts, hoping to search for a lead to the shard the next day. For dinner, Alvara and Zale cook up a steaming pot of baked potato soup while the rest of them contemplate the idea of cannablism if they ever went that hungry. The next morning Team Waffle feasts on bacon, eggs, and toast. Alvara, having a bad night filled with bad dreams, is overly sleepy and groggy. In the city, they happen upon a flyer advertising a magician with amazing water powers. It would've been very ordinary if it weren't for the fact that people were whispering that the magician was an Inanis. The group realizes he must have a shard of the Orb of Tides, and sneak into the show to grab it from him. Aquarius and Dan remain out front to keep the crowd distracted, while Alvara, Edan, Heather, and Teeter go backstage to snatch the shard. There they find the magician surrounded by two more black-cloaked people. They introduce themselves as Thana and Aeron , two of the top elementalists in the mysterious organization they work for. The team watches from behind some crates as Thana and Aeron bribe the magician for the shard, promising real powers to the Inanis. Alvara is clearly surprised by Aeron's ability to take water from the air, something she had only seen her father perform. Vena appears to say that the man will never discover his dormant powers, and that they have to stop the two from getting the shard. Alvara steps out from behind the crates, halting the transfer of the shard only to have Aeron laugh, exclaiming that the "kitten" has appeared. Team Waffle's undercover group begins to fight the two, and it's clear how much power the two possess. Even though all four of them try desperately to beat Thana and Aeron, the duo quickly dispatch the team. Aeron manages to trap Edan in a water lock, rendering the fire user helpless and drowning. Finally Aquarius and Dan come to the rescue and Aquarius is able to draw Edan out of the ball of water and save him, much to Alvara's relief. Thana and Aeron find the reinforcements petty and annoying, and decide to take their leave with the shard they gathered, reminding Alvara that they will meet again in Venmara. The copper-haired girl is left wondering how they knew her name and why they need her. Dismayed from a consecutive loss, Team Waffle runs out of Perola to escape from the officers. Aquarius tells them that they're heading to the Ashdown Manor in Venmara. Apparently her mother has collected six shards of the Orb and wants them to head south. Team Waffle departs for the entrance to the southern Hollogray on Zodiac Horses. Beautiful Venmara Arc Team Waffle heads off on the Zodiac Horses to their ride in the mountain range. Teeter races on ahead while Aquarius and Dan explain the concept of the Ashdown Ball. Two days later, the team arrives to find a gigantic viperae crawling down the mountain. Still wary of the serpents from the last incident, everyone but Aquarius backs off in fear. However, the girl reassures them that it's their ride, and sure enough, Luke , a butler, is sitting at the top. He treats Team Waffle to a lavish lunch ranging to maple glazed salmon to raspberry vinaigrette salad. Alvara greatly enjoys the food, complimenting Luke's butler skills, much to Dan's dismay and Aquarius' joy. To add to the boy's horror, Dan is forced into the leopard suit as part of a bargain back in Caritas as the group departs on the viperae to Venmara. A few hours pass while Alvara takes a much needed nap, the speed of the viperae taking them quickly across the peaks to the expansive Ashdown manor, a beautiful structure created from Aierock. Alvara retired to her room earlier as the ZDL Club chases their victims through Venmara. After a long soaking bath, she picks out a formal floor-length dress for the evening. TBE Shards of the Orb Arc TBE Onwards to Amnicen Arc TBE Search for Shamri Arc Alvara reappears as a mysterious hooded figure to the struggling Team French Toast. She rescues them out of the icy water and gives them shelter in a cave. Though the team is wary of her presence, she offers them a story about Shamri and a golden compass, designed to lead them to the Sword. Alvara leaves in a flash of gold, however, Seth seemed to have recognized her. She reappears back in Harena, after the completion of the Sword. Her comeback signals the end of the book, commanding Edan to hand over the Sword or die. A New Enemy Arc After a brief minute of speaking with Edan, Alvara proceeds to take all three teams on by herself. She retrieves her golden compass, revealed to be a charm of her pendant. Pinning Team Pancake against the wall, Alvara readies herself for battle against Team Waffle, who's more determined than ever to keep the Sword and get Alvara back. Former Elemental Magic and Abilities '''Light Element Magic: '''Light is one of the rarest elements of the five, possessing fewer offensive tactics and used for diversions or boosting other abilities. As a light elementalist, Alvara has extended control over her element, unlike Teeter or Edan. She possesses mastery over the few techniques light allows, except for lightning and illusions. *'Light Bursts: 'One of the most basic techniques of light, users can create blinding blasts of light to stun enemies or aid in a speedy escape. *'Emotional Element Link: 'A sub-group of elemental magic, the emotional element link can be utilized when a user is experiencing extreme emotions. Alvara uses this subconsciously a lot, her hair flashing in crackles of energy when she is flustered or embarrassed. She can also direct her emotional link when enemies hold her captive. *'Imbibing Light: 'The most frequently used technique for Alvara, she is able to gather her light into a weapon, specifically her arrows, to add extra properties her attacks. By imbibing light in the tip and shaft of her arrows, she can control the arrow's accuracy much better and the light also is useful as a sharp cutting edge. *'Light Manipulation: 'Another basic ability of light, users can create light sources. Alvara can create floating balls of light to light the way. Light manipulation usually causes minor heat, but when a user has a fire bloodline, this heat is increased. Elemental Magic and Abilities '''Dark Element Magic: '''Dark is a very mysterious element, though not part of the five main elements. Little is actually known about darkness, though through the story, it's been discovered to be an actual element, not just a trick. As a darkness elementalist, Alvara has yet to show her capabilities. She claims to have a few new tricks up her sleeve, some of them may include shadow traveling, which both Seth and Mike have exemplified, and dark voids, which Seth has been shown using. In the first book, her darkness magic began to manifest after events on the Seadog's Qualm. '''Master Archer: '''Alvara, through strict training, has mastery over archery, her main form of offense. She easily hits targets far away, and is able to hit the chinks in the armor of a viperae, one of its only weaknesses. '''Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: '''Alvara is an expert to martial arts, able to take out three people at once just with punches and kicks. She uses this skill along with her archery to overwhelm enemies. '''Enhanced Durability: '''As a practitioner of martial arts, Alvara is able to withstand several deadly hits from enemies, whether they be elemental or physical. Normal attacks are easily deflected or will not cause pain. '''Enhanced Strength: '''Alvara can apply increased strength to her attacks and arrows. This is a result of her training as a child. '''Keen Intellect: '''Along with Dan, Alvara is able to concoct some sort of plan when she is focused and concentrated on her fight. This strategic planning doesn't work when she is flustered or weak from the inside. '''Immense Reflexes: '''Another result of her training, Alvara is gifted in speed, agility, endurance, and dodging. She can leap across trees for long periods of time, run quickly without stopping, and easily dodges punches and kicks thrown at her. She can perform many flips and somersaults even without the use of an element to boost her in flight. Equipment '''Yew Longbow: '''Made by her father, this charmed yew bow is never to break, even though it is embossed with lovely designs that would, in ordinary cases, weaken the bow's structure. It is extremely supple and bendy, giving Alvara the extra strength boost needed to make one normal arrow a deadly wound. The yew bow carries many wistful memories of her family when it was together. *'Light Arrow: Alvara is able to imbibe her weapons to create an extremely sharp edge and better accuracy through the control of her light. White-Fletched Arrows: 'Alvara also carries a dozen of arrows fletched with swan feathers. She prefers making them herself, but has resorted to buying them from the few general stores available when her supply gets low. Her arrows are so important that she will keep the bent ones to recycle into new ones later. '''Quiver: '''Alvara keeps a wooden quiver lined with velvet on the inside to keep her bow and arrows. Inside the quiver is also a cleaning cloth and hazelnut oil to keep her bow in tip-top condition. '''Rucksack: '''A large rucksack holds her belongings, and even though it isn't magically charmed to be endless, Alvara is still able to pull countless useful items, including food, out of her storage. '''Golden Pendant: '''The most important of her belongings, this golden pendant used to belong to her mother. When she inherited the necklace, it only bore one charm, a golden butterfly, wings shaded in rainbow jewels. However, as time passes, the golden pendant magically adds new charms according to the situation. *'Golden Butterfly: Doesn't react often to events, but has glowed once at the end of Book One. It has some connection to Iona Faine and her disappearance. *'Golden Key: '''A very volatile charm, the golden key burns and glows when in contact with another similar key, such as the one Seth possesses. It also becomes active when Alvara's heart is attacked by darkness in Book One. In Book Two, Talbot uses the key to open something up in her heart, causing her much pain and agony in the process. *'Orb of Tides Charm: 'A small blue orb nestled in a clump of golden leaves, this charm is attracted to the shards of the Orb of Tides. It is also the container for the many sided Vena/Veno, and acts as a collector for the individual pieces. The more shards added, the more powerful the charm gets. Water elementalists can utilize the charm to boost their abilities. This charm glows blue when active. *'Atyniad Flower: 'As a symbol of everlasting, first, passionate, and pure love, the Atyniad Flower symbolizes her connection to Edan. It opens when she accepts her feelings for him, and it closes when her heart is sealed. *'Sword of Flame Charm: '''The newest addition to her pendant, the Sword of Flame Charm manifests itself as a small golden compass, the center embedded with a ruby sphere. Around the edges are lines of runes and inscriptions. The arrow attached to the ruby spins in the direction of the Sword of Flame's location, allowing any user to find the weapon. The ruby increases in red glow when the charm gets in closer proximity to the Sword. Relationships Edan Ignus Volan Alvara was the love interest of Edan before she left the DO. When they first met, they felt a certain attraction to each other, but was complicated by various incidents.Both continually deny any feelings for each other, as neither really understands what they feel for each other. They had their first kiss in Quaevir out of desperation to escape capture by the Seekers. In Caritas they had a date - though it sadly failed. Eventually Alvara realized her feelings for Edan only to be kidnapped by Seth days later. When Alvara returns, her relationship with Edan has gone downhill. She does not love him anymore and threatens to kill him if he does not hand over the Sword. Edan continues to try and get her back and sometimes his words reach her, momentarily. In Caritas Edan comes to terms with Alvara's disappearance and convinces himself to let her go. Zalent Kentrel Mor Alvara first met Zale as a child. He "saved" her from a shallow river and they became fast friends. During this time, Zale developed a crush on her. Alvara treats Zale differently from the rest of the team when they reunite in Quaevir - more on equal terms. Even on the ship to Perola, when Alvara having nightmares, Zale is the only one she feels comfortable enough to talk to. In Venmara their friendship continues to progress when Alvara is unable to grapple with her feelings towards Edan.? Again, when Alvara returns, she treats him with contempt. Zale is determined to bring her back, like Edan, but often has other things to deal with.? Trivia *Alvara is a vegetarian. *Her favorite vegetable is peppers. *She wants to vacation at Lignil Forest, Semper Lake, and Gaox. *She hopes that Edan will teach her how to swim. *Her favorite scent is the smell of smoky wood. Quotes TBE Major Battles *Alvara, Teeter, & Jaden vs. Paglas, Faric, & Gordon *Alvara, Teeter, Jaden, Aquarius, & Edan vs. Viperae & Black-Cloaked Men *Alvara, Teeter, Jaden, Aquarius, Edan, & Dan vs. City of Ice *Alvara vs. Three Bounty Hunters *Team Waffle vs. Heather *Team Waffle vs. Caritas *Team Waffle vs. Talbot, Rentin, & Halwyn *Team Waffle vs. Thana & Aeron *Team Waffle vs. Thana & Aeron: Rematch *Alvara vs. Darkness Category:Introduction Arc Category:City of Ice Arc Category:Twin Cities Arc Category:Nesaica Forest and the Orb of Tides Arc Category:The Island of Love Arc Category:Perola City Arc Category:Beautiful Venmara Arc Category:Shards of the Orb Arc Category:Onwards to Amnicen Arc Category:A New Enemy Arc Category:Characters Category:Team Waffle Category:Light User Category:Faine Category:Class Low A Category:Class High B Category:Class A Category:Class B